A Life Less Ordinary
"A Life Less Ordinary" is the 978th episode of Casualty and the 17th episode of the 30th series. It was preceded by "Home for Christmas" and followed by "Lie to Me". It was the first episode to be aired in 2016 following the series 30 Christmas break. It was directed by Steve Brett and written by Barbara Machin. Synopsis When Cal's running outside he notices a black car which he recognises and he gets into his own car and follows it as it drives erratically down the road. The car soon crashes and lands upside down. Cal abruptly stops his car and hits his head. However he climbs out of his car and makes his way over to the other vehicle. As the driver starts to loose conciseness Cal tries to do CPR but at the weird angle he is in it just isn't working at it seems the driver is dead. When Cal goes to leave the vehicle he sees a woman tapping on the window of another car involved in the crash. As there's a flashback to 24 hours earlier we see Cal dropping some bloods, Ethan becomes suspicious as Cal doesn't seem to be his usual self but Cal just brushes it off. As Cal worries his mother has passed on Huntington's disease to him, everyone soon starts to notice that there is something on his mind. Cal treats a women called Evie Thompson but when her partner doesn't want Cal to tell her what he thinks it could be until she is certain he doesn’t agree, believing that it's best if she knows from the start. Cal sends her for a CT, which shows an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Cal tells her that she needs surgery to fix it but Hester disagrees as Mrs Thompson has already had a lot of surgery. Cal reiterates that its her best option and leaves them to talk it over. Mrs Thompson doesn't want the operation as she believes she will die whilst in there. Lofty and Cal both try to persuade her but they leave anyway. As Evie's partner Hester is waiting for her she becomes frustrated with the vending machine. Ethan tries to help her and when he notices she is coughing a lot her checks her over in cubicles. Ethan tells her she has inflammation of the lung lining and a fractured rib, she looks like she will be fine with medication but as Ethan takes a closer look he thinks he can see something else and wants to send her for a CT scan but she tells him there is no need as she had cancer 10 years ago and believes that it has come back. Cal is in the staff room looking up Huntington's and comparing the symptoms to himself. As Charlie walks in he ask his opinion but he refuse saying 'don't mistake your personality for symptoms'. He then sends Cal home but before he leaves the staff room Connie comes in annoyed that Evie has been discharged. As Cal gets cocky, Connie walks away and Charlie tells him to go home or get back to work. As Ethan over hears Charlie he worries about Cal and Cal becomes even more angry about the situation he is in. Cal goes home and starts looking up Huntington's disease. Evie and Hester go home but as they get a phone call from Connie on the answer machine telling them they should be in hospital Hester tells her she thinks Connie is right. Evie doesn't agree. Cal leaves the house and goes to a bar, he notices a woman but when a man pulls her down into the seat net to him, he gets up to make sure she is okay. The man assures him that there fine but as the girl looks scared Cal pulls her up and pours a drink over the man as the run out of the bar. They walking in on a wedding truing to get away from him and start to dance. Cal finally seems to be having fun and wakes up the next morning. The girl comes into the bedroom and Cal tells her he has to go to work. However when she finds a picture of Matilda, asking if she is Cal's he judges her on the man she was with last night. The argue and she walks out, seemingly feeling bad Cal goes after her and when he notices her bag outside he goes running after a car he suspects is her. As Cal spots the man from last night in a car her jumps in his own car and follows them. As Cal spends up the wrong side of the road trying to catch them up he just misses an oncoming vehicle. Evie's pain becomes worse and when Hester worries about her she agrees to go to the hospital but not in an ambulance. As Hester drives her they come to a roundabout but when The man Cal is casing after hits the round about his car goes tumbling over and smashes the side of Hester's car. As Hester and Evie talk to each other Hester starts knocking on the window. As we see Cal run over from the upside down car we are seemingly back in present day. He tries to open the door but needs Hester to unlock it. He manages to get in but as oil drips from the car he needs to be quick. As Hester doesn't think she is injured he goes in the back to help Evie. Cal tries to help her out but as he notices the oil catch on fire by the other car he knows he has got to act fast. Dixie and Iain arrive at the scene, Iain wrestles Cal out believing he is just a bystander but when he notices it is Cal he lets go. Cal is straight back in the car and cuts Hester's seat-belt freeing her. The fire quickly spreads with just Evie and Cal in the car. Cal manages to get Evie out and the quickly wheel her away but as Cal walks away the car goes up in flames and Cal is blown to the floor. Dixie shakes him a bit and he is soon on his feet but as he thinks about the girl he goes back over to the car which is engulfed in flames. He manages to kick open the boot and the girl come tumbling out. As they arrive back at the hospital Cal cleans up but is straight into resus to try and help out as best as he can. Hester wants to be net to Evie and Cal quickly moves her so they can talk but Connie soon has to take Evie up to theatre. Connie insists that Cal get checked over and once it is finished he just wants to get straight back on with the job in hand but Connie makes him get the wound on his head dressed first and tells him he needs to talk to the police. However Cal asks them to stall and admits that he was drinking last night and although he thinks he was fine to drive he wants to be safe. However when Connie overhears it doesn't look good. He explains that the girl was In danger and when Connie comes in she tells him he will needs to be under obs for a couple of hours and tells the police to wait, seemingly on Cal's side. Cal goes to see the girl he saved before she is moved up to the ward and she thanks him for what he did. Cal then offers to try and help her get a visa but she refuses saying she needs to do it by herself. Cal goes to tell Ethan the truth but when Ethan says that Evie didn't make it he instead goes and breaks the news to Hester. Hester asks Cal to stay with her and he does. As Ethan comes to check In on Hester Cal seems to be sleeping. Ethan tells him he is wanted back in cubicles but when Ethan checks Hester's pulse there isn't one. Ethan can't get his head around it as her breathing wasn't critical but Cal just sees it as her time. Ethan then tells Cal that he couldn't lose him and that he isn't on his own as they hug.